this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. our top stories. indonesia lays out plans to build a new warning system capable of detecting underwater landslides, as the death toll from saturday's tsunami rises to 429. the pope appeals for peace in conflict zones like yemen and syria in his annual christmas address from the vatican. in his christmas message, president trump says there'll be no end to the government shutdown until funding is secured for his us—mexico border wall. and from walls to calls, did the president put his foot in it by asking a seven—year—old if he believed in santa? hello and welcome to world news today. the indonesian government has announced it will build a new tsunami warning system, as the number of people known

to have died in saturday's tsunami has risen to 429. heavy rains are hampering rescue efforts, with some 16,000 people on the islands of java and sumatra evacuated to higher ground. there are fears that further eruptions of the anak krakatau volcano, may trigger more deadly waves. naval vessels deployed around sunda strait have found some bodies washed out to sea. tsunamis this year have exposed the fact that much of the early warning system wasn't working due to damage by fishing boats or theft from passing ships. the new system will measure the size of waves, enabling it to detect tsunamis caused by undersea landslides. sameer hashmi reports from the coast of west java. three days after the tsunami struck indonesia the country is slowly coming to terms with the scale of tragedy. the government has now turned its attention in providing relief to thousands of people who've lost their homes. several such centres have been set up to collect food and clothing.

leading the relief and rescue operations in banten region is commander rico sirait. he says progress has been difficult. the challenge will be mostly because of the weather right now. it's rainy season during the end of the year. we try hard to still keep searching the shore. a few kilometres away, tommy manangka was supposed to have a busy christmas. but it's turned out to be empty. his beach—facing resort was shattered when a strong wave from the sea powered its way through these doors on the night of the tsunami. in this muslim—dominated country, tommy is from the christian minority. and on a day he should be celebrating, he's busy picking up pieces of his retirement plan. translation: i was with my guests when i saw a huge wave that went over the yard.

i shouted, "this might be a tsunami". i asked the people to move up to the second floor and then the next wave came in so quickly, that guests who were in the lobby were dragged all the way to the road. the special forces are stilljointly conducting rescue operations with the national search agency across the affected regions. we have been following the rescue team for the last hour and they have been going from one beach to another trying to sift through the debris to look for more survivors. there are still many people that are missing. the team is still optimistic and hopeful even though they realise that this has been a year of disasters for indonesia. the president has ordered the installation of a new advanced tsunami warning system. in a country which has been prone to natural disasters in recent years, this could help avoid a future large—scale loss of life. sameer hashmi, bbc news, banten, indonesia. president trump has said the partial

shutdown of the federal government is going to last until he gets the funds to build a wall on the mexico border. the shutdown began at midnight friday after opposition democrats resisted the president's demand for $5 billion for his mexico border wall. here's mr trump speaking to reporters earlier. i can't tell you when the government is going to be open. i can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it, i'll call it whatever they want. an eight—year—old guatemalan boy has died after being detained by united states border agents. the us customs and border protection said the boy and his father were in custody on christmas eve. it's the second instance this month of a migrant child dying after being detained.

earlier this month, mexico agreed to a plan by the trump administration that means people seeking asylum in the us stay in mexico while their applications are processed. they are now spending christmas stuck in the violent border city of tijuana, and conditions there are getting worse. from there, will grant reports. samuel's family imagined they'd be building their lives in the us rather than a tent in mexico by now. but not any more. under new rules, they must remain in mexico in such flimsy accommodation as they wait on their asylum applications. the change was a temporary measure for humanitarian reasons, the foreign ministry said, as mexico is considered a safe third country. how safe though? in recent days, two honduran teenagers from the caravan were killed on tijuana's streets. we saw samuel, his wife and baby madalyn often on theirjourney. they are typical of the migrant families — poor, exhausted and fleeing the threat of violence. having risked everything to reach this point, they are reluctant to turn back now, but know they could spend months,

if not years waiting in one of mexico's most dangerous cities. translation: we can't go back because i had death threats from the gangs in honduras. they came to the house looking for me several times, so we had to escape. as the weeks of hardship take their toll, food is scarce and conditions unsanitary. the city has opened a second migrant shelter, but it isn't enough. there's now an increasingly large number of people who will be stuck in these conditions and this legal limbo, notjust through christmas, but well into next year. hundreds have already returned to central america and the mexican authorities are encouraging others to do the same — to head home for christmas. this decision on asylum has caught many off—guard. translation: how can you ask for asylum from one country and be in another? it doesn't make sense. president trump hated the old system, calling it "catch and release".

this change is what he wanted from mexico, for those trapped at the border though, this new agreementjust made a bleak christmas even tougher. will grant, bbc news, tijuana. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. there have been demonstations in the sudanese capital, khartoum, on the seventh day of anti—government protests. a crowd marched towards the presidential palace to demand the resignation of the president 0mar al—bashir. there were scuffles with police, sporadic gunfire and arrests. on monday the president promised to deliver real reform. thailand's parliament has voted to approve cannabis for medical use. recreational use will remain illegal. marijuana was used in thailand as a traditional medicine, until it was banned in the 1930s. a key lawmaker called it a "new year's gift" to the thai people. the tokyo stock market plummeted on tuesday with the nikkei index closing down 5%,

its worst finish in almost two years. this followed a brutal session on wall street that saw us stocks sink for a fourth straight day on monday, driven by fears about the economy and a government shutdown in washington. a court in tokyo has granted bail to a former director of the japanese car—maker nissan. greg kelly, who's american, was arrested at the same time as nissan's former chief executive carlos ghosn over allegations of financial misconduct. both men deny wrongdoing. our business reporter jonathanjosephs explains what more we know about mr kelly. he was arrested at the same time as the four merge chairman of nissan. and he is regarded as the right—hand man. we know that greg kelly poss my job involve addressing some of the complex legal issues that an international car—maker like nissan would face. he has not been released

on bail. he had been accused of helping him do two things, to misappropriate company money for his own use and also to underreport his pay which is a criminal offence. both men denied any wrongdoing but mr kelly would not be able to fight his legal battle from outside of the tokyo prison where he has been held since the middle of november. johnathanjoseph‘s since the middle of november. johnathan joseph's there. pope francis has stressed the need for love between people of all races, nations and religions in his traditional christmas message. addressing the thousands who gathered in st peter's square, he appealed to worshippers to embrace other cultures, and to celebrate diversity. the pontif also spoke about the world's humanitarian disasters. james reynolds reports from rome. cheers and applause on christmas day a pope can often enjoy the capturing of the world stage where true to himself.

—— the luxury of the world stage largely to himself. at midday in blinding sun, vatican bands held at francis's entrance onto the balcony of the basilica. the pope addressed the pilgrims and tourists in the square below. he called for a resolution of conflicts in the middle east, africa, latin america and asia. he also sent a message to minority christian communities. translation: a particular thought goes to our brothers and sisters who celebrate the birth of the lord in difficult, if not hostile situations. especially where the christian community is a minority often vulnerable or not ta ken into account. the high ceremony of the traditional christmas address is a short breather for some of the problems facing this pope.

this year, francis has been criticised for his failure to understand the scope of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. the pontiff has asked bishops from around the world to come to this city early next year to work out how to respond. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. a0 migrants have been rescued from boats in three separate incidents in the english channel. it follows a series of recent attempts by migrants to cross the channel by boat to reach the uk. the bbc‘s sarah campbell can tell us more. we know that there has been a recent upsurge. the home office produced a statement at the end of november say there has been a surge in people trying to cross the english channel and we can certainly say that last night or the early hours of this morning, there was absolutely a spy,

an unprecedented number. all in small vessels like thingies. there was one picked up by lifeboats from dover that had 12 men and a child on it. seven men and a girl were found in folkestone. there was another with eight passengers found on it in the channel and then a rowing boat with two migrants. there are small vessels. there is speculation that it is all spin very mild in terms of waiting for a weather window last night would have been a good one because of the weather. that might have encouraged more people are. interesting points, we have not got the nationalities from all the a0 but from those we do know there are at least nine iranians which is quite significant because there was a big nuisance or in october 2017. serbia allowed visa free travel for iranian people to come out to serbia. it was for tourism purposes but about one in four of a0,000 people outstay their visas. and made

their way into the european union and it is now thinking that some of those people are coming across to try to get to britain. that might explain this sort of spike in iranians. the bbc did an innovative —— investigation the end of last month. they sort of smugglers who we re month. they sort of smugglers who were given the impression the people that "you need to get across now because with brexit happening in march, you do not know what will happen at the border". that again might explain why they're suddenly seems to be this upturn in numbers. presumably if there is a spike, there will be an increased liability to keep an eye on others trying to make that same great treacherous perla journey south to the home 0ffice perla journey south to the home office has said that they been working more closely with the french authorities and there are more coastal patrols. i got the statement that the end of last month saying exactly the same thing that they will be popping and they think this is organise criminal gang activity,

smugglers organising these groups, to get across the channel. the authorities are well aware of it but obviously, people are getting through. sarah campbell speaking to mea through. sarah campbell speaking to me a little earlier. an attack targeting the foreign ministry building in the libyan capital tripoli has killed at least three civilians, and injured 11 according to paramedics. militant attacks are common in libya, with multiple islamist armed groups operating in the country, including the so—called islamic—state. the bbc‘s north africa correspondent, rana jawad, reports. a chaotic and confused scene at the foreign ministry as the attack unfolded and the building was evacuated. at least two assailants we re evacuated. at least two assailants were involved in this latest suicide attack in the libyan capital. according to a civil servant and a red cross volunteer, one of the assa ila nts red cross volunteer, one of the assailants blew himself up on the third floor at the ministry's archives department. unverified pictures shared on social media shows smoke billowing from the foreign ministry building and at

least two cars ablaze at a nearby is —— nearby street with some debris scattered around. this is the third attack in one of libya's state institutions this year. the headquarters of the election commission and another building have also been targeted. attacks which we re also been targeted. attacks which were later claimed by the islamic state group. that report by rana jawad. the main suspects in killing of two scandinavian tourists in morocco? had no contact with islamic state operatives despite pledging allegiance to the group according to the country's counter terrorism chief. moroccan authorities said they had made five new arrests linked to the double—murderclaiming to have dismantled a cell to the double—murder claiming to have dismantled a cell of nearly 20 members. emma murray reports. their murderous headshaking norway, denmark and morocco. two young tourist 2a—year—old danish student louisa jespersen and 28—year—old maren ueland had been hiking in the atlas mountains. but they were found

deadin atlas mountains. but they were found dead in their tent and an isolated spot south america —— on the 17th of december. last week norwegian police said a video appearing to show what the tourist being beheaded was likely to be real. at least 18 people in the country have now been arrested in connection with their murders. and the chief of morocco poss i anti—terrorism office said the four main suspects have pushed the four main suspects have pushed the islamic state group. the woody of the week before the killings but stated they had no contact with daesh operatives. the alleged killers had agreed to carry out a terrorist attack targeting the security services or of foreign tourists. and a moore don't seem to have the proof of a terrorist. they live lives in the normal way among citizens. if you asked this question to their neighbours and the people who interact with them, they that they were shocked and surprised that people committed these crimes. and

he vowed to fight the origins of this extremism. and number of vigils have been held across morocco with crowds turning out to mourn for the two murdered women. many participants came with signs saying "sorry". emma murray, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: we'll take you to the serbian capital belgrade, where they keep their christmas lights up for half the year. this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines. indonesia has confirmed it will buy a new tsunami warning system, after the number of people known to have died in the latest disaster rose to nearly a30 people. president trump has said the partial shutdown of the us federal government will last until he gets funds to build a wall on the mexico border. the queen and members of the royal family have attended church in sandringham in norfolk. prince philip wasn't there, but a palace spokesman said he was in perfectly good health. also absent was camilla, the duchess of cornwall

who is recovering from a heavy cold. meghan, the duchess of sussex is enjoying her first christmas as a member of the royal family, she was the first non—married partner to be invited to sandringham last year, now she is due to give birth to a royal baby in the spring. here in the uk, the queen's christmas message has been broadcast — with the monarch saying "goodwill to all" is needed "as much as ever". lu some cultures believe in long life brings wisdom. i'd like to think so. perhaps part of that wisdom is to recognise some of life's baffling paradoxes such as the way human beings have a huge propensity for good and yet a capacity for evil. even the power of faith which frequently inspires great generosity and self—sacrifice can fall victim to tribalism. but

through the many changes i have seen over the years, faith, family and friendship has been not only a co nsta nt for friendship has been not only a constant for me, but a source of personal comfort and reassurance. 0nly personal comfort and reassurance. only a few people acknowledged jesus when he was born —— when now millions of people follow him. i think his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all... to all is never out of date. it can be heeded by everyone. it's needed as much as ever. a very happy christmas to you all. some people love the festive season so much — they wish it would never end. well, in belgrade they seem to have taken that to heart. the christmas lights in serbia's capital stayed up for six months last year. 0ur balkans correspondent, guy de launey, has been stepping out under belgrade's endless lights. if you wish you could be christmas

every day than belgrade is the place debate. these start going up in september and if last yea r‘s debate. these start going up in september and if last year's that's his season is anything to go by, it will not be going down again until march. that is a six—month stretch. but there is a method behind the apparent madness of this merriment. you can go to any other shop here and they would tell you that they like this and they let the festivities going on in the downtown area because people keep buying. when you have a revenue of eight dinners are one dinner invested in lights or anything else you invest for, then it pays off. witt the illuminations marathon is not without its critics. and they insist they're all being party poopers rather they have genuine concerns about whether belgrade is getting enough value for excessive block.

last year there was a miniscandal when it turned out that the christmas tree cost more than 80,000 euros. this is a clear case of corruption and fraud. the increasing cost of the christmas lights into those of ia and only one company is building for this and the only company is winning so this is a clear indicator to us that this is a corruption due and this is all happening in the city that has 30% of people that do not have the basic needs for things like sewage. there is no word on when the lights will go out this time round but if christmas does not last long enough for viewer, will you know were to come. guy de launey, bbc news, belgrade. christmas can be a difficult time for people with a chronic illness. but this year, strangers with long—term mental and physical illnesses are being paired up and encouraged to send gifts to one another to stop them feeling isolated. the recovery buddy parcels project has helped hundreds of people from all over the world. let's take a look.

they always come when i really needed pick me up. it is always just so needed pick me up. it is always just so perfect, it means so much. we match up people with different chronic mental and physical illnesses with a buddy who understands and has a similar condition to them and lives near them. when you can't leave her house a lot, social media is your only release. having someone who can actually relate and empathize instead of sympathise is really nice. when you can say you have had a rough day at my shoulder is dislocated, they can say oh yeah that sucks and set of "oh that must

hurt i really serve for you". the last thing i want is petty. thank you so much. i know sony bibeau had beenin you so much. i know sony bibeau had been in such a worse off was that they did not have this community to turn to. —— i know so many people. it is just to support you can't find anywhere else. donald trump's in hot water — but this time, not with another politician but rather, santa claus himself. here's how. despite a partial us government shutdown, one agency that hasn't ground to a halt is norad. it's a us government agency and on christmas eve it has a santa tracker, this is what it looks like, young and old can follow the movements of father christmas as he delivers presents around the world. american children can also call in to talk to its employees, and some of those calls get patched through to the president and his wife. that's what happened

to one boy named coleman. have a listen to part of his conversation with mr trump. witt -- with witt —— with one girl. used to believe in santa? it's at seven, it does marshall, right? —— it is marginal. i think we all believe in santa claus. i think we know who is concluded stocking next year. —— cold. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @ ben m bland. thanks for watching. we and christmas day on a mild and cloudy note but at least the weather was mostly behaving itself. no gales 01’ was mostly behaving itself. no gales or anything like that. as far as boxing day is concerned with the

change, it will stay mild and there was some sunshine in the broadcast. —— in the forecast. a lot of thought are wrong parts of the british isles and wind blowing of the southwest since some mild directions i was at the moment temperatures are into double figures. looking at europe the milder air is starting to push in deeperfurther east to the milder air is starting to push in deeper further east to europe as well. colder air towards russia which is where it is really freezing at the moment. but look at the forecast for the rest of christmas day and into the early hours of boxing day. a week where the front is approaching northwestern scotland you can see the south—westerly winds thrashing in here some rain to the hebrides but for the mass majority of the country it is a dry night and mild. temperature kay six hi —— six, seven 8 degrees. maybe a touch of frost in the far northeast of scotland. then boxing day itself some sunshine in the forecast. the

south coast, the beats of the pennines and parts of wales and northern ireland. what at these temperatures, double figures pretty much right across the country. 11 degrees in belfast, glasgow and edinburgh. then towards the end of the week high pressure pretty much driving the weather in many western parts of europe. little change and little wind. a bit more crotch was the northwest moving closer to atla ntic the northwest moving closer to atlantic weather fronts. so to scotla nd atlantic weather fronts. so to scotland in the northwest always with a bit more cloud as we head into thursday. to the south of that thursday looks bright, looks like cardiff is in for sunshine, the same goes for london and also to the east of the pennines some fine weather around the whole of newcastle on thursday with temperatures from 10 degrees. a bit colder there and east and leon on thursday because we think the morning may bring a touch of frost so those temperatures mice go down through the course of the day. and into the weekend more or less the same. a lot of cloud with

some sunny less the same. a lot of cloud with some sunny spells and temperatures around a 10 degrees mark. that is it for me. bye—bye. this is bbc world news. the headlines... the indonesian government says it will install a new tsunami warning system next year after the existing technology failed to warn of the large waves that devastated parts of java and sumatra on saturday. at least a29 people are now known to have died. president trump says the partial shutdown of the federal government is going to last until his demand for funds to build a wall on the mexico border is met. a0 migrants have been picked up in operations in the english channel. a number of boats were intercepted this morning and a number of people were discovered by officials in folkstone in kent. the queen and the pope have both appealed for people to put their differences aside in the hope of greater understanding in their annual christmas messages. those are the latest headlines on

bbc news. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of 2018 from our documentary series our world. in this award—winning film, my stolen childhood,